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Vauxhall’s take on the Ford Transit, is, like so many commercials a joint-venture vehicle with Renault and Nissan. Built in Luton, the Griffin-badged Vivaro has lots to offer with low fuel costs and big carrying capacity, but what should you look out for when buying used?
The Vauxhall Vivaro is now far more refined than before thanks to the excellent 1.6-litre diesel and good to drive with a high quality ride whether empty or laden. Getting comfortable behind the wheel is easy thanks to good reach and height adjustment on the steering wheel which has a more upright angle.
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Vauxhall made a big deal about its Vivaro being a British built LCV and that undoubtedly helped it in the sales charts here, it regularly accounting for one in 10 UK van sales during its five-year production run.
Introduced in 2014, following its predecessor’s lengthy 13-year production run, the Vivaro might not have presented a radically new look to its customers, but it was significantly re-engineered throughout. As with its rivals Vauxhall offered its Vivaro in panel van, Combi nine-seater minibus version, crew cab and chassis cab choices, with a choice of two lengths (4998mm and 5398mm) and two roof heights.
As with its predecessor, the Vivaro was co-developed with Renault (the French alternative being the Trafic), the British/French mash-up (or purée), using the same basic structure as its successful predecessor, but with an all-new body and interior.
Vauxhall deliberately, and cleverly, offered the Vivaro with the rear loadspace offering virtually identical dimensions to its predecessor, to allow customers to carry over internal racking and panelling from their previous vehicles, helping businesses with costs. As you might expect, the Vivaro’s specification was improved when it arrived in 2014, with electric windows and electrically-adjusted mirrors being standard on all, and ESP (stability control) and hill start assist all being standard equipment.
Trim lines were base Variant with durable black plastic bumpers, grilles, mirror housings and the vertical rear mouldings, and Sportive. The latter saw all those elements touched by the spray gun to be body coloured, while gaining some chrome elsewhere, standard air conditioning, selective door locking. Sportive also gained a more flexible loadspace with the addition of the FlexCargo bulkhead, which allows loads of up to 4,150mm in length to be accommodated by sliding under the passenger seat.
While the Vivaro wasn’t the biggest LCV in its class, even in shorter L1 guise it can accommodate three Euro pallets, the maximum payload being 1281kg (in L2 H1 spec), with the 1.2m width between the wheelarches allowing 8ft x4ft panels to fit in with ease.
At launch the Vivaro was offered with a range of 1.6-litre turbodiesel engines, which if badged ecoFlex added stop-start technology and Eco button for improved consumption.
The entry level engine was a 1.6 CDTI with 90PS and 240Nm of torque, the ecoFlex version offering the same outputs, but a circa 3mpg consumption improvement in the official combined consumption cycle, and a 10g/km reduction in CO2 emissions.
A more powerful 115PS version, with 300Nm of torque was also offered, its ecoFlex alternative gaining 5PS for 120PS and 20Nm more torque thanks to BiTurbo technology. Those gains brought with them improved consumption and emissions, indeed, the 120PS ecoFlex, is the most economical engine in the line up, with emissions as low as 155g/km and economy of 47.9mpg.
Topping the line-up was a further development of the 1.6 CDTI BiTurbo engine, it developing 140PS and 340Nm of torque, it, like all the engine offerings, able to deliver official combined fuel consumption figures comfortably between 40 and 50mpg. In reality consumption will be more in the mid to high-30s.
Relatively shortly after the Vivaro’s launch Vauxhall would add Selective Catalytic Reduction with Adblue to the Vivaro engine line-up for Euro6 standards. These arrived late in 2015 as a 2016 model year. The 90PS engine’s output was raised to 95PS, torque too rising, with 260Nm on offer, the 115PS was raised to 120PS, while the 120 and 140PS versions also gained 5PS, but retained the same torque outputs. As standard the Vivaro was fitted with a six-speed manual transmission, Vauxhall not offering it with an automatic.
In the £5000-£7000 sphere you’ll be looking at high mileage examples, though there might be a few with less than 100,000 on the odometer. £6000 and above is where you’ll start to find the classifieds more consistently made up of newer Vivaros, rather than higher-priced examples of the old model.
Between £7000 and £9000 there’s huge choice, with plenty sub-100,000 mile models on offer. Here there is a decent choice of engine power outputs, with the high power BiTurbos typically in the £8000 and above sphere.
Vivaro buyers seem a bit more adventurous with their colour choices, too, with plenty of silver, blue and the occasional red example if you’re not wedded to white. High roof models are relatively scarce in the classifieds, though there’s a decent mix of swb and lwb examples if you’re searching. Crew cabs and the occasional Combi are also available, these typically a little bit higher priced than their panel van alternatives.
Spend above £9000 and you really can afford to be choosy with your Vivaro, with low mileage, newer examples available, more often than not with the desirable Sportive trim. Get into the £10,000 and above price range and you’ll be looking at even newer examples, more often than not sold from dealers. We’d be surprised if you don’t find a suitable van at or around the £10,000 mark, but if you do want nearly new, with sub-20,000 miles then you’ll be looking at £12,000 and above. Buy a 2018 or 2019 example, and it’ll still be covered by Vauxhall’s 100,000 mile, three-year warranty.
Vauxhall dictated a service every 25,000 miles, or two years, whatever was earlier, which you may well have received free as part of a package deal that Vauxhall often offered. For prudent owners, an oil and filter change every 12,000 miles or 12 months is strongly advised.
If you’re doing short-drop driving, it’s worth more regular check ups, and paying for those shouldn’t be too expensive, interim servicing from an independent will cost around £150. For a major service you’d be looking at around £230, and adding about £30 to that would include an MoT.
Should you need a clutch replacing you’ll be looking at a bill of around £800, while new front brakes and discs will cost you in the region of £200, fitted. A pair of front shock absorbers costs about £240 fitted, while rear ones shouldn’t cost more than £200.
A popular choice, the front-wheel drive only Vauxhall Vivaro was offered with two lengths (4782mm and 5182mm) and two roof heights (1969mm and 2464mm). The loadspace available varied from 5.0-8.4 m3, the sliding side doors giving 1m wide access and 1.28m height - enough to easily accommodate Euro pallets.
Payloads varied from 1016kg-1271kg, that weight managed by a progressive-rate spring set up at the rear axle, while Vauxhall offered an optional FlexxCargo anchorage system to fix loads as conveniently as possible. The rear doors were either a pair of barn-style opening doors, or optionally a raising tailgate. From 2010 a full steel bulkhead was standard, it previously an option, though customers could specify it with a full height driver’s guard if preferred.
For those wanting to shift human cargo the Vauxhall Vivaro was offered in ‘Sportive’ doublecab or fully-seated Combi formats in both long and short wheelbase forms. In addition the Vivaro could be converted with dropside flatbed and tipper rears, as well as access platform vans.
At launch in 2001 the Vivaro was offered with a 1.9-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder unit with either 80PS or 100PS outputs. In addition, a larger 2.5-litre Dti unit was available, this delivering 135PS and 310Nm of torque. All early Vivaros were fitted with five-speed manual transmissions. A 2.0-litre petrol was also offered, but few bought the 16v 120PS petrol engine, making it a rare find in the classifieds.
In 2006 Vauxhall revised the Vauxhall Vivaro, and changed the engine offering in the process for Euro4 compliant ones. The base engine grew from 1.9-litres to 2.0-litres and this all-new engine badged CDTi and having outputs of either 90PS (240Nm) or 115PS (290Nm). The 2.5 CDTi grew in power to 145PS (320Nm), and all benefitted from the standard fitment of a six-speed manual transmission. A ‘TecShift’ automated manual transmission was additionally available as an option on the 2.0-litre 115PS and 2.5 CDTi models only. ESP was offered as an option across the range from 2006, too.
With the Vivaro in service right through to 2014, it would see further revisions to its engine choices, including the addition of the ecoFLEX models with either 2.0 CDTi 90PS or 115PS models with lower CO2 outputs than their non-ecoFLEX alternatives.
Between 2011 and its eventual replacement in 2014 the ecoFLEX models would benefit from Vauxhall’s continued pursuit of lower emissions, with a Euro5 model having a fixed speed limiter for CO2 emissions of 174g/km and an official consumption figure of 42.7mpg.
There’s a Vivaro to suit any budget. At the sub-£1000 to around £1500 bottom of the market it’s a minefield of banjaxed non-runners and Cat D vehicles, though happy hunting if you’re a handy mechanic and brave. You get what you pay for here, though there might be a few gems if you’re prepared to hunt around. Better to spend a little bit more, and you’ll be in the realms of running, recently serviced examples, these starting from about the £1800 mark, and not necessarily meaning galactic mileages, either.
The £2000-£3000 sphere sees a massive choice of vehicles on offer, allowing you to be relatively picky, with many having had comparatively easy lives - it simple enough to check out condition via online adverts. Ask what it’s been used for, better that it’s been carrying mail than rubble. Big mileage ex-fleet vehicles can be worth considering, as they’re usually well maintained, though likewise, small, independent businessmen and women who’ve relied on their vehicle for work tend to look after them, too.
Above £3000 and the choice is vast, covering all age and type of Vivaros, from Crewcabs and dropsides to some specialist refrigerated models, and recovery vehicles. Ignore age, instead buy on condition, service history and mileage here, again, you really can afford to be picky given the vast number of vehicles on sale.
Up into the £5000 and above sphere and you’ll start to find sub-100,000, lightly used examples, many residing in van sales centres and often coming with warranties. Again, the choice is so extensive you’ll not be short of choice, so bargain hard for the best deal you can get.
Service intervals varied throughout the Vivaro’s production cycle, with the 20,000 annual mile service schedule of 2011 increased to 25,000 mile or two years from 2013. Specialists recommend that you ignore that, suggesting instead an annual or circa 12,000 miles for the greatest peace of mind. A service will be in the region of £150-£200 - preventative care better than business being sidelined due to breakdowns.
The engines come with a timing chain rather than a belt, but don’t think that means it’s maintenance free, as the chains can stretch, typically needing replacing between 100,000-130,000 miles. A replacement will be around £600. During its life the Vivaro was subject to a number of recalls, most of these quick fixes, relating to poorly tightened bolts or suchlike, but a couple were more significant.
Two are notable, one relating to corrosion-fused fuel injectors as a result of a leaky bulkhead seal, Vauxhall’s service bulletin from August 2013 stating that it would make a 100 per cent goodwill contribution on vehicles up to seven years old and 248,000 miles. Previous service bulletins relating to this only offered partial contribution, depending on age and mileage. This was the issue that gained the Vivaro a degree of notoriety after being publicised on the BBC’s Watchdog consumer television programme.
The other big issue with the Vivaro relates to the transmission. PK5, PK6, PF1 and PF6 manual transmissions are prone to failure, due to a build issue. The pre-load on the bearings are massively over torqued, leading to failure in gearboxes with mileages as low as 20,000 miles. Once these are repaired, and correctly installed they should last indefinitely - any Vivaros that might have had a problem certain to have been repaired by now.
These issues aside, maintenance should be as easy as any other van. Typical costs for service items are competitive, a replacement clutch fitted will cost around £550-600, new front brake pads £90 (around £200-250 including replacement discs), that timing chain replacement around £500, a new starter motor fitted £350, a pair of shock absorbers costing £200-£300 fitted and springs similar.
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